patches

Do you watch the dubbed or subtitled versions? I'm a bit of a Derek Zoolander when it comes to subtitles, although having a newborn in the house, has improved that... ...not because I don't want to wake her... more because I can't hear the TV when she's fussing 😅 As for YouTube, I pay for premium too, but the middle version that's just ad free (no music, downloads or screen-lock play). I justify it as YouTube is the streaming service I probably watch the most (daily work bus commutes, night time when going to sleep, etc), so I figure it's well worth the money to get rid of the annoying ads.

Pure Soutie here... English on my Mom's side, Welsh on my dads. Both grew up in Zim. In fact my great-great grandfather was one of wagon drivers when the controversial Mr CJ Rhodes exlpored/exploited up north. Looks like great-great grand-pappy would have worn a pith helmet. I'm living proof that those eyebrows are genetic... maybe the mo is too, haven't tried!

According to the invite: What traditional South African outfit will you be sporting? Wonder if this one is allowed...

Yeah, I guess the Shore needs one of their own... I'm just surprised it's not in Browns Bay 😅

9th October at Westlake Girls High? hahaha

aaand approved. So like @hayleyearth they took about 1 month to process. Pretty darn good! But now the wait for the next available ceremony.

Yeah, some companies are great like that with top-up payments (my wife is lucky enough to have one such employer)... some companies are not.. (I didn't get any paid partner's leave, whereas many corporates these days offer 2 weeks)

Ooh! I'd forgotten about Annika Season 2. Thanks for the reminder! 👍 And yeah, +1 for Nicola Walker. We really enjoyed Unforgotten, River, and The Split.

Also really enjoyed Silo. Apparently Season 1 only touches half of one of the books. But yeah, bring on season 2!

To clarify, that is for the primary caregiver. The partner doesn't get anything from the government. But still, it all helps. As for earnings dependant, yup. It's for primary caregivers that were employed prior to going on parental leave. $712/week is the max. So if one earned that, or more, that's what they get. Anything less the government will pay at the earned rate. There is also another payment from months 6-12 of $69/week, regardless of earning and leave (so even if the primary caregiver is back at work)

Another good... parental leave pay... $712.17 (gross) per week for 6 months. I know compared to the Scandinavians and other European countries, this isn't amazing, but it's something, and definitely takes the sting out of trying to pay a mortgage on a single income.

They used to be about AUD160 and another NZD40-ish for biometrics. I got my last one for free as the previous one expired during Covid. Very nice of the Aus government. But recently submitted an application and it was AUD190. Not sure how much biometrics will be. EDIT: booked my Biometrics this morning. No payment required. Seems that nowadays that fee is covered in the AUD 190.No payment required. Seems that nowadays that fee is covered in the AUD 190. Scrap that, I was wrong... it's $65 for biometrics. I found out this morning when I went for mine. I forgot that they only ask for it on the day. Why they don't just make you pay when booking the appointment, who knows?!

Even here in Hobbit Land it's a mixed bag. Like some of the bigger retailers only seem to have extreme sizes, and nothing in stores where one can try them on. They tend to stock mode Leatt, Giro and Ride Concepts on the shelf, with FiveTens being sporadically spread throughout the country Fortunately though, there's some great pricing on the moment (exchange rate is roughly 11 ZAR to 1 NZD)... Maybe I should start an export business 🤔

FiveTens and decent pedals will change your life! I've had about 8 pairs (6 different models) over the years. My 2 favourites (the ones I bought doubles of) were Impact VXi's and Red Barons. Sadly neither are still produced, but Impact Pro and Freerider's will be the closest equivalents respectively. My recommendations would depend on the type of riding you do. For more gravity orientated riding (downhill or enduro), the Impact Pro's. More rigid sole, better foot protection. For more general trail riding, the classic Freerider, Freerider Pro (if you want something less "2000's skate shoe" or the Sleuths (what I currently run) Freerider Freerider Pro Sleuth DLX (ideally the suede, not canvas versions) FiveTens are pricey, but Stealth rubber is magical and they led the way for many of the other flats on the market today.

Yup! Also figured it was likely not a main brand. Loads of generic frames out there, branded and used by smaller manufacturers. Speaking of that Do*ber*manm, that shock through seat tube reminds me of Specilized P-Slope slopestyle bike I think it's that hydroformed gusset between the top tube and seat tube that is Intense-ish, as well as the way the shock mounts to the top tube I had an Intense 6.6 in the bike collection, many moons ago. Was even stupid enough to do Sani2C on it 😅 Good find! Thanks for putting me out of my misery, haha! Although I had a hunch it was a generic, I doubt I my investigation would have led me to this Walmart special.

It looks so familiar, like it's on the tip-of-my-tongue... but I cannot recall exactly what it could be. Closest I could thinko of is a Kona Satori... but the Satori was a 29er, and certain details like pivots on seat stays (vs chain stays), thru-axle, etc are also not quite right. Looking at the frame in question and based on certain characteristics (26", IS mount rear brakes, no ISCG tabs, 135mm QR axle, head-tube diameter), I'd say this frame is circa 2009 - 2012. Damnit this is gonna bug me!

We're already dreading future disappointments... like what if she starts vaping, or wants to become an influencer 😅

Been a bit preoccupied the last month (with the arrival of the little one), but managed to get some time in the garage on Saturday to work on this... Flip-Top Table Saw & Planer Cart Don't know if it's a good idea or not, but figured it may save some space in my tiny garage. Still a work in progress, need to add some bracing to prevent side-to-side racking. Also need to make another handle for the planer height adjustment wheel (current one sticks out), oh and as you can see the planer blade replacement tool falls out the top when the planer tips up-side down. But flip-or-flop, either way it was good to make some noise and sawdust again.

My power bill is already up by $120 this month (convection heaters and heat pump running 24/7). As for the lights... I remember my Dad going round turning lights off if we forgot to... I've now lived long enough to turn into him, hahaha

Teach 'em young, raise 'em right!

In other news... I'm not going to be the first kiwi citizen in the household. About 4 weeks ago, we gained a house-mate. She's noisy, messy, late on rent and doesn't pull her weight around the house... ...but Mum and Dad are smitten, so she can stay for the next 18yrs or so! (Too young for Kids DIY class, but never too young to go to Bunnings with Dad)

Not a TV show as such, but every now and again I re-evaluate which streaming services we're subscribed to, and chop and change a bit, based on content, price, my mood on the day, etc. Amazon Prime TV - The one constant. Best priced of the big services, decent original content, and no issues (that I've experienced) when using on multiple devices. Plus the feature that shows cast and song details when one pauses on a scene is great! Netflix - Fell outta love with this a while ago, before their price gauging and becoming all hard-ass on multi-device use. They produce about 1 decent original show per year that they try to hook their customer base on for the other 11 months. Grew tired of this and cancelled a while ago Disney+ - I usually only activate for seasons of Star Wars shows (Mandalorian, Andor, etc). The Marvel shows were novel at first, but now it seems like they're milking a the cash-cow to death. I reactivated for my wife's maternity leave, but ended up cncelling after 1 month as we could not find much that grabbed our attention. Apple TV + - This is the one I always forgot about. I had it for free for 1yr when I bought my last iPhone. Shows were top quality, but the inability to cast and no app (for my android TV) meant one needed to buy an apple TV device, so I only watched content on my phone. Recently though, I decided to browse the content library and saw some great original shows and movies (like the Tetris movie, highly recommend). Also discovered that they now have an app for the TV, and the price is NZD 2 (approx R20) less than Disney+... so sacrifices were made!

I've recently worked my way through all 7 seasons of Bosch and 1 season of Bosch Legacy (the sequel). Really enjoyed both (probably early seasons of Bosch a bit more). But yeah, worthwhile for those that like crime dramas

That's pretty darn quick! I'm hoping that as my forms were submitted online, there's only me on the application, and I've been a model resident 😅, the process will be pretty smooth sailing. That said, government has changed immigration ministers about 5x since you applied 😂

The good... I finally applied for my citizenship... ...sadly though, my Aus visitors visa has expired and I was hoping that I would have a little black passport by the time I head across the Tasman again (therefore not needing to renew said visitor visa), but alas, citizenship processing times seem to range from 5 - 15 months. So I won't hold my breath. @Wayne Potgieter, how long was the processing time frame for your citizenship, and how long after that for passports?